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Quotes on the Kite Runner

Pages: 2 (506 words)Published: November 27, 2011

"I lifted Hassan's mattress an planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it. I waited another thirty minutes, Then I knocked on Baba's door and told what I hoped to be the last in a long line of shameful lies." (116)

"I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan, and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. I ran." (77)

"It was suprising how well we got alongin these weeks. Sometimes I found it hard to remember his treachery, sometimes I discovered myself thoughtlessly slipping bak into afection for him again."(55)

"He knew I'd betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time. I loved him in that moment, loved him more than I'd ever loved anyone..." (105)

"I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That's what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan. That's what I made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart: He was just a Hazara, wasn't he?"(77)

"I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense, any how." (25) "...Baba would buy it for me and then he'd buy it for Hassan too... wished he'd let me be the favorite." (51)

"I watched Hassan get raped. I said to no one. A part of me was hoping that someone would wake up and hear so I wouldn't have to live with this lie anymore. That night I became an insomniac." (86)

"But he's not my friend! I almost blurted. He's my servant! Had I really thought that? Of course I hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well just like a friend, better even, more like a brother....

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“I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.”
When Amir says this, toward the end of Chapter 7, he has just watched Assef rape Hassan,and rather than intervene, he ran away. Amir says he aspired to cowardice because, in his estimation, what he did was worse than cowardice. If fear of being hurt by Assef were the main reason he ran, Amir suggests that at least would have been more justified. Instead, he allowed the rape to happen because he wanted the blue kite, which he thought would prove to Baba that he was a winner like him, earning him Baba’s love and approval. The price of the kite, as Amir says, was Hassan, and this is why Amir calls Hassan the lamb he had to slay. He draws a comparison between Hassan and the lamb sacrificed during the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha to commemorate Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son to God. In this context, Hassan was the sacrifice Amir had to...

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The KiteRunner
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My relationship with my Dad as a young child differs greatly from Amir’s relationship with his Father, Baba. Although there were six kids in the family, my Dad never fell short when it came to affection. After a long hard day at work and coming home almost passed six in the evening, Dad always had enough energy to spend time with each of us. We would play video games, watch television and spend the night giggling together. But Amir on the other hand felt deprived of an emotional connection with his Father, which he blames on himself. “I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful...

...KiteRunner
Final Questions
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Amir was a tortured soul because he was ashamed of what he did in his past, in his childhood. Amir thinks that the god will never forgive him, but most importantly Amir will never forgive himself. Amir watched Hassan get beat up by Assef and his friends. Amir never thought to go up to Hassan and help him. Amir wanted Hassan to suffer so he can have Baba all to himself. Amir could never handle the fact that Baba loved Hassan more than he loved him. Amir put handful of money and a wrist watch under Hassan’s bed to frame Hassan of stealing. Hassan took the fall and Hassan and Ali had to leave the house. Years later Amir finds out that Hassan was his half-brother, and realizes that his life had been a lie right from the start. Amir couldn’t imagine what he...

...Since the beginning of time, women have had to fight rigorously for basic human rights. In the western stratosphere, those human rights were achieved in the early 20th century, but in a lot of eastern countries the battle for the women is just beginning, or worse hasn't even started. Women in Afghanistan have been subject to heinous circumstances, even though their religion, Islam "demanded that men and women be equal before God,"(Qazi). Khaled Hosseini's The KiteRunner offers a very insightful view of the governing politics of Afghanistan pre-Taliban regime and during the Taliban regime, and the differing situation of women in both those eras. Based on the book and outside research, it is evident that the situation of women in Afghanistan has decreased with time, due to cultural beliefs, as well as the Taliban regime.
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...The KiteRunner Essay People must sometimes defy the laws of society to overcome challenges in their path. In the novel, The KiteRunner authored by Khaled Hosseini, some characters face a lot of difficulties against the society in general. Hassan being a Hazara has constant opposition throughout his life. Baba finds a great change in his stature when he comes to America. Amir spends 26 years of his life keeping a secret that leads him to discovering many more secrets. Hassan faced a lot of challenges because he came from a social class that was considered inferior to the Pashtuns. Firstly, Hassan was always taunted by the society they lived in in Afghanistan. During a particular incident, a soldier calls to Hassan rudely, “You! The Hazara! Look at me when I’m talking to you!,” and insults him (Hosseini 7). Here Hassan is referred to simply as the Hazara and Hassan was often reminded of his social status. Secondly, Hassan’s friendship with Amir was not taken well by the people in the upper class who thought that their relationship should be nothing more than that of a master and servant. This is shown in Assef’s response, “Someday you’ll wake up from your little fantasy and learn just how good of a friend he is,” where Assef tells Hassan that he is only a servant and does not share any special relationship with Amir (Hosseini 77). This shows that it was difficult for Hassan to show the society that his relationship...